


How Do I Say The Words

by dragonydreams



Series: Captain Canary & Rogue Canary Tumblr Prompt Fics [9]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 12:04:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6565420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonydreams/pseuds/dragonydreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anon Prompt: Captain Canary prompt their first I love yous</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Do I Say The Words

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and Phil Klemmer.
> 
> Betas: Thank you to angelskuuipo and shanachie_quill for looking this over for me.

They had developed a kind of shorthand around each other over the past few months. Words that started out as insults became terms of endearment. 

_"Be careful, Crook."_

_"Always am, Assassin." ___

__Neither Sara nor Leonard were big on words. They were people of action who enjoyed their silences._ _

__Words could lie; they could deceive. They could betray you. So it was better not to use them._ _

__Until not using them was a betrayal in itself._ _

____

~~*~~

It had been niggling under the surface of his skin for days now. This need to express his feelings. It was such a foreign sensation, that Leonard didn't know what to do about it.

He didn't _do_ feelings. 

Caring about people, letting them in, was dangerous. To him. If you didn't care about anyone then it wouldn't hurt when they inevitably betrayed you. Or left. Or died.

Yet somehow, after several months of traveling through time and space with Sara Lance - and sleeping together for most of that time - he now found himself in the unfamiliar situation of caring for her.

Not the way that he cared for Mick. Not even how he cared for Lisa. 

This was something new. Something he'd never felt before. And it terrified him.

Because he was starting to get the sneaking suspicion that this feeling was what other people called love.

~~*~~

Leonard had been avoiding her, and Sara was starting to get pissed off.

It wasn't just that she missed him in her bed, which she did, but she missed their regular banter. She hadn't realized just how much time they spent together until he suddenly wasn't around.

She'd never admit to anyone, but him, that he calmed her. When she was with him, the bloodlust wasn't so bad. That wasn't the only reason she was with him, of course. She genuinely liked being with him. He understood her in a way that no one else ever had. 

He respected when she needed space and he was there when she couldn't stand to be alone.

He'd slowly reawakened the part of her that she thought had died in the Pit. That part of her that could love anyone other than her family.

~~*~~

Sara finally found him skulking in the jump ship, reading its manual.

"You've been avoiding me," she said, sitting on the floor across from him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leonard denied, not looking up from the book. This wasn't his first time reading it, but he'd needed an excuse to be alone.

Sara stretched one leg out, bumping her foot against his to get his attention. "Stop it, and just tell me what's going on," she implored. "Is this your way of breaking up with me?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Leonard said, tossing the book aside.

"Then talk to me," Sara said. "I've barely seen you for the past few days and we haven't left the time stream in that entire time."

"I've just been sorting through some stuff in my head," he reluctantly admitted.

Sara nodded to herself, having assumed as much. "And did you come to a conclusion?"

"I have," he said, slowly. He finally lifted his eyes to meet hers, his breath hitching slightly at how blue they were when filled with unshed tears. He hadn't detected them in her voice and was taken aback.

He held a hand out to Sara and she slid across the space between them, settling herself astride his thighs, not letting go of his hand.

"What's going on, Leonard?" Sara asked, running her free hand up his chest to rest at the back of his neck.

He shifted restlessly under her, but didn't try to move Sara off his lap. His eyes would flick up to meet hers briefly, before looking down at their joined hands.

"You know that I didn't have the best childhood," he started and Sara nodded. "My mother died when Lisa was barely out of diapers and my dad couldn't handle being a single parent and let his frustrations be known with his fists."

"I already know all of this," Sara said. "What does that have to do with why you've been avoiding me?"

"I'm getting there," Leonard said, peevishly. "This isn't easy for me."

Sara brought the hand that had been behind his neck up to mime locking her lips before replacing it.

"Lisa and Mick are the only people I've let myself get close to. The only people I've ever _cared_ about," he sneered, as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth. "Until now."

He finally locked eyes with Sara, letting the gravity of that sink in.

Sara's breath hitched and her nails bit into the back of his neck. "What are you saying?" she breathlessly asked.

"I didn't think it was possible, but I somehow…" He took a deep breath, letting all his walls down. "I love you."

A tear rolled down her cheek as she smiled the brightest smile Leonard had ever seen. He brushed away the tear, cupping her cheek.

"Say something, please," he said when she'd been looking at him in awe for over a minute.

"I love you, too," Sara finally said and Leonard felt shattered and whole at the same time. An unfamiliar lightness filled his body as he met Sara for a slow kiss.

His hands clutched at her back, pulling her closer; afraid she'd take it back and run away laughing. He sought to deepen the kiss, tasting her tears as he licked her bottom lip, pulling it between his teeth in the way he knew made her toes curl. He was rewarded with a moan of approval and her lips parting to grant him entry.

When they finally parted for breath, Sara asked, "Why did you loving me make you hide from me?"

"I've never felt _this_ before," he admitted, fingers slipping beneath her shirt to touch the bare flesh of her back above her pants. "I didn't understand what it was and needed to figure it out."

"You've never been in love before?" Sara asked, surprised.

Leonard shook his head. "Never let myself get close enough to anyone. I take it you have?"

"I thought I was in love with Ollie," Sara said. "I did love Nyssa, though. She was the only good thing in my life after she brought me to join the League. That's not what this is, is it? You don't just feel this way because I'm the only option on this mission?"

"I'm not with you because there was no one else," Leonard replied, annoyed that she could even suggest such a thing. "If I just wanted sex, I could have gone to Mick. Not like we haven't fucked in the past. I fell in love with you because of who _you_ are."

"I'm damaged; a monster," Sara said in denial. 

Leonard brought his hands to her face, forcing her to meet his eyes. "No! You're a survivor. Just like me."

He kissed her again, pouring all of his new-found emotions into it, and knowing that loving Sara didn't make him weak, it made them strong. Together.

The End


End file.
